Cure Me, Please
by BitterSweetNitemare
Summary: Returning to Japan, Kuchiki Rukia, a pediatrician and debutant artist, is quickly shoved back into the crazy work lifestyle of Seireitei Hospital. From irritable orange haired doctors, nosy best friends, and betraying assholes to coffee and donuts, it's a wonder why she's always so cranky! IchiRuki UlquiHimeIshi AU Rating might go to M
1. Prologue: The First Meeting

**A/N: This is the new version of **_**Dr. Strawberry and Dr. Midget**_**! The plot is similar to the old one, but the order of events the story follows will be different. The events and content will be different as well. I do hope it will be better than the last!**

**_Background info:_** On the next chapter, but I'll put some things you might want to know for this chapter. Rukia and Ichigo are doctors, and they're kind of sarcastic about things. And the rest is sort of self explanatory as some of it isn't that significant to know. But beware, I _love _foreshadowing.

**Pairings: **IchiRuki, Slight Ichisen/AshiRuki,

**Side Pairings: **RenTats, UlquiHimeIshi

**Genre[s]: **Romance, Drama, Humor, hurt/comfort [I only marked it romance since I wasn't sure which would fit]

**Rated T [later M] for language, adult themes, and occasional semi-gruesome health descriptions **

***SIDE NOTE:** This version of the story is a little more serious unlike the old crack version. This one will have its moments of crude/mature humor, so it's not all that depressing.

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I claim Bleach as mine.<strong>

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><p><em><strong>Prologue: The First Meeting<strong>_

Rukia yawned lazily as she tried to fall back asleep. After several attempts, each of them not prevailing, she turned to face her clock settled on top of her nightstand. 7:25 AM, it read.

_Ugh_, she thought with annoyance, _why am I up so early?_

Despite questioning it, she actually knew exactly why.

Earlier, no more than five minutes ago, her very "thoughtful" brother-in-law had called her –assuming she was awake- to inform her of her upcoming job.

_**Five minutes prior…**_

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

_Rukia groaned loudly as the Chappy the Rabbit theme song filled her ears. She turned to the side, tugging her blankets over her head –not bothering to pick up the phone. _

_After several more torturous seconds, the ringing finally stopped –bringing a wave of relief over her. She sighed calmly at the wonderful silence and slowly drifted back to sleep. _

_Until the ringing started again, that is._

"_Oh, come on! Who the hell would call me this early in the morning?" Rukia complained, shoving her sheets off of her, and grabbing her cell phone. "Nii-sama," it read on the bright phone screen._

"_Of course… how did I not know? Only Nii-sama would call at this ungodly hour," she mumbled to herself, debating whether to answer the call or just to ignore it. _

He'd probably just call again anyways. I might as well do myself a favor and get it over with,_ she thought frustratingly._

"_Mushi-mushi?"_

"_Rukia? You sound exhausted. Were you not already awake when I called? I hope I didn't disrupt your rest," the cold voice of the older Kuchiki reached Rukia's ears through the phone waking her up more._

"_Ano, of course you didn't disrupt my rest, I've been long awake before you called…," she said fighting back a yawn and continuing, "I am just a bit tired is all, having just come back from a different country no more than two weeks ago."_

"_Hmm… I see. I would recommend that you had better rest more for what I'm about to tell you," Byakuya said, clearing his throat. His thoughts seemed to be proven correct. His sister-in-law may not be quite ready _–or awake- _for the job he got her just yet. _

_As he pondered on his thoughts, Rukia on the other side was already half asleep. Afraid that she would completely fall asleep on her brother-in-law, she attempted to continue the conversation –or whatever it happened to be. _

"_Erm, yes, please do go on," she said politely, trying to keep her eyes from drooping._

"_Of course," he said, clearing his throat. "I presume you know of Seireitei hospital and how I am one of the lead doctors there, correct?"_

"_Well, we are short by an assistant in the fourteenth division and considering you will most likely end up at this hospital sooner or later… I had a talk with the head, and he has agreed to take you in. You start in a week, and you have a meeting three days from now. I will email the rest of the information to you when I can. Do you understand?"_

_Rukia sat on her bed –wide-awake now- gawking at the phone. _

_Her brother-in-law just called her at seven in the morning to tell her that he had gotten her job and she had to start working in a week. _

_There were three things wrong with that statement. _

_One, he called her at seven in the morning._

_Two, he got her a job without her consent. [Was that even possible?]_

_Three, she had to start in _a week_. _

"_Ano… I understand, Nii-sama. But, may I ask what position I will be put into?" she asked, trying to prevent herself from exploding._

"_Well, since you are specialized in pediatrics, you fit perfectly into the fourteenth division, starting as assistant of the lead pediatrician. The fourteenth division is a division of physicians who work in all areas of health surrounding children and adolescences. This position should be more satisfying to you than the last few positions you have had in previous hospitals," Byakuya explained._

"_I see, and what might be of the paperwork required for this position? And how did you get me approved to work there so fast?" questioned Rukia. She had the urge to ask, "And what are you? Kami?" but that would have just led to worse scenarios that she didn't even want to think about. _

"_The head has agreed for you to fill in the needed paperwork during the meeting in three days."_

"_Truthfully speaking, I have already showed him your resume quite awhile ago, and he had agreed for you to work. I apologize for not notifying you sooner," said Byakuya, with a hint of an apologetic tone hidden under his dull voice, "I must go now, I'm sure you are busy as well as I. So I hope you will have a nice day, Good bye Rukia." With that, he hung up, leaving Rukia on the other line gaping._

_**Present time…**_

Rukia sighed heavily as she stared at her ceiling. She could always count on Byakuya to make work first priority. She couldn't blame him for it though, finding work these days was pretty tough –even though she had no clue how he was able to get her a job so quickly. Especially for someone like Rukia, who moved often and worked in a field she wasn't completely passionate about. Don't get her wrong, it wasn't that she didn't like being in the medical field, it was just that she was stronger in a different field; art.

She turned to the side, hugging her rabbit shaped pillow to her chest. Her mind drifted off to her high school days.

She remembered the Kuchiki elders had pressured her about her studies and made sure that she was put into a good field of study after she graduated. She was given the choice of medical, or business. The elders preferred she went into business, since they thought the medical field was too "complex" for her. They never actually said that, but she knew that was the case.

So, just to prove them wrong –and maybe piss them off- she decided to become a doctor. Being a doctor had its benefits too, like getting to actually help people. And truthfully, the only main reason she complied to their wishes was to not disappoint her brother-in-law who had taken care of her, and relieved Hisana of her troubles. Compared to the life her and her sister had lived before Byakuya came could have been considered hell. Hisana was prone to getting sick easily, and so she was never able to stick to one job. And Rukia's part time job during high school was not enough to pay for the bills, so they struggled, and by luck, they somehow were able to get by. It wasn't easy living in the city, and they didn't have enough to move away either. So the struggling never stopped of course, until Hisana met Byakuya at a cafe. The days and weeks after that started to become better, and Rukia and Hisana were able to feel content for once, relieved of stress.

And so, due to Byakuya's kindness, she had vowed to herself that she would do anything for him to repay him for all his help, even though sometimes she mentally groaned.

As Rukia reminisced on, she yawned quietly and started to slowly succumb back to sleep.

After all, it was only 7:26 AM.

* * *

><p>Ichigo yawned as he looked up at the clock, 8:20 AM it read. It was early, but not as early as it usually was for him. Normally, 4:45 AM would be staring back at him, <em>always<em>.

He fell back into his chair and slumped down.

A 14 year old had fallen off the railing of his balcony and cracked his head open, fracturing many of his bones. Miraculously though, he didn't break his neck. Ichigo had spent the past several hours stitching the kid back up. Then right after that, one of the patients in the intensive care unit had unconsciously gotten her IV caught somewhere, causing it to rip off, leading to a very dangerous situation which lasted him until 20 minutes before to fix.

He yawned and rubbed his eyes. He usually wasn't this tired, but lately, he's had a lot on his mind. Not just things about work, but about his personal life too. Senna, his friend, ex-girlfriend, and ex-coworker had just recently moved to the states. He wouldn't lie, he missed her, and the feeling was mutual.

He and Senna had only recently broken up, for reasons that she would be a faraway from Japan… and that there were some complications in their relationship, which he felt as though he was at fault for, but they both chose to forget them.

Ichigo's only current concern now was who would be his new assistant. He knew he would be getting one sometime next week, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to tolerate this one, considering the last two he's had since Senna left.

The first one was a guy. He looked professional and acted as though he knew what he was doing. Unfortunately though, when time called for intelligence that was where he ran short. He wasn't quick to act, and was clumsy too. He had dropped one too many piles of paperwork, and tripped every where he went. To add to the misery, his knowledge was no more than basic college level biology.

The second assistant after that was a lot better, but the downfall was that it was a woman. She thought Ichigo looked "hot" and "young" and always hit on him every chance she got. She even tried to seduce him in his office multiple times, but thankfully, each time he was spared when there was a knock on the door.

Ichigo cringed just at the thought of it. This time, he was hoping it wasn't a woman, but most of the time the assistants were all female. At least not all the female assistants were like his last, he knew for a fact that Senna definitely wasn't.

He had made agreement with himself a while ago, that Senna would be the only woman he would care deeply for.

Oh, was he wrong.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Three days after…<strong>_

Rukia brushed through her short hair as she hummed the "Chappy the Rabbit" theme song.

After many complications, Byakuya and the head of Seireitei hospital, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, were able to schedule a suitable time for her meeting with him and her partner-to-be.

"_3 o' clock sharp,"_ she remembered Byakuya saying. Right now, it was only 1:13 PM, so she still had time to waste.

She put her brush down and looked at herself in her mirror. _I just need to throw on a pencil skirt and dress shirt and I should be fine, _she thought.

Just as she walked out of her bedroom, she heard a few knocks on her front door. Rushing over, she quickly opened the door, revealing her two best friends.

"Ruuuuukia!" exclaimed a bubbly auburn haired woman as she immediately took Rukia into a lung crushing bear hug. "I missed you so much," she said, holding Rukia tighter into her very large bosom.

"Rukia! Long time no see, eh?" asked a dark haired woman, stepping into Rukia's apartment and closing the door behind her. She grinned widely, but then replaced her grin with a look of concern. "Ano, Hime, I think it's time to let her go. Rukia looks a little … limp."

After noticing her friend's limpness, the auburn-haired woman quickly let go of her. "I'm so sorry, Rukia! I think I got too caught up in the moment," she said apologetically.

The said raven haired woman coughed a couple of times, and inhaled deeply before saying, "Nah, it's okay, Orihime. We haven't seen each other in a while, so it's all fine. Come on, let's go to the living room. I'm sure you and Tatsuki have a bunch of questions to ask," Rukia laughed, waiting for her friends to take off their shoes before leading them to the living room.

Orihime and Tatsuki looked around her apartment in amazement as they followed her lead. It wasn't particularly big, but it was very diverse. There were paintings and photographs aligning the walls, and a few sculptures placed about the apartment.

"Wow… it looks like a museum," said Orihime in wonder as she looked around.

Rukia laughed and stopped in the middle of the living room. "Do you guys want something to eat or drink?" asked Rukia.

"No, it's okay, Hime brought some snacks," said Tatsuki, taking a seat on one of Rukia's couches.

Rukia nodded, and sat herself down.

"So how was the United States?" questioned Orihime, taking a bunch of bento boxes out of her bag.

"Big. Land wise, _and_ people wise. The people were nice though, but there was the occasional grouch," Rukia answered. "I noticed New York City was kind of like Tokyo- Is that shiratama?"

Tatsuki smirked, "Yup, it sure is! I helped Hime make it especially for you," she said brightly.

Rukia completely forgot about what she was previously saying, and stared hungrily at the shiratama, practically drooling. Orihime giggled and handed her the box containing the treat.

Rukia gladly took it and began devouring the content inside. As she enjoyed her treat, she noticed that her two friends had been glancing at each other and chuckling quietly.

_Something seems fishy, _thought Rukia.

"What is it? Do I have something on my face?" Rukia asked, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

Tatsuki and Orihime looked at each other again, but this time with a hint of nervousness.

"Well," began Tatsuki, "we were just wondering if you met anyone in the states is all."

Rukia blinked, and then scowled. "Well, I was courted a couple of times, but I rejected all of them," said Rukia, stabbing a piece of her shiratama and shoving it in her mouth. "I promised myself I wouldn't get caught up in men after what happened with _him_," she said, increasing her voice by a decibel.

Whenever it came up to the subject of men, it always got her in a foul mood.

"Oh… so you're still not over what happened with _him_," said both Tatsuki and Orihime in unison. They suddenly felt a little guilty for bringing up the subject, but sometimes, Rukia needed a little push. By bringing up uncomfortable topics for the girl, they could get her to reveal things she wouldn't have originally told them. It was what they, mostly Tatsuki, called "a not-so-sadistic" tactic.

"You'll have to forget about it eventually though. You shouldn't let scum like him take control over your life, even when he's not here anymore. So go out, find a boyfriend, have sex, and enjoy life," said Tatsuki strongly, "After all, you don't want to be a cat lady do you?"

Orihime nodded in agreement, and grinned widely.

Ignoring the cat lady comment, Rukia chuckled. "Tatsuki… have you been watching those public speaking videos again? I think they're working," replied Rukia humorously, "And since when were you so inspirational about going out and finding a man? Last time, you were like, 'Men! They're all good for nothing assholes! Who needs 'em?'"

Tatsuki smirked, "Okay, I'll admit, I did say that. But even though I dislike the male race, doesn't mean you should too. I just want you to be happy and find someone who you can trust," she said whole heartedly. "And no, I gave up on those useless videos a long time ago. Wearing a dress probably sounded more appealing than watching one of those videos!"

Orihime then added in her two cents, "Yeah, ever since _him_, you've never been fully happy! That's why we want you to find someone who can make you happy," she said with a wide grin, giving Rukia a gentle hug.

The raven haired woman smiled warmly at her two friends, "You two really are my closest friends, but as much as I would hate to disappoint both of you, I'd have to say I'm still giving up on 'the good for nothing' male race," With that, she stuck her tongue out and finished the last of her shiratama.

Tatsuki sighed and laughed, "At least we tried, right Hime?" she asked, looking over at the woman beside her before looking back at Rukia. "We're still not giving up though."

Orihime nodded in agreement, and started to eat what looked like chocolate and yogurt covered takoyaki.

"You guys really love making my life miserable, don't you?" asked Rukia jokingly. "Anyways, enough about me! How about you guys? I doubt any guy would dare ignore you two with those new sexy hairstyles of yours," exclaimed Rukia a little too enthusiastically.

As the three single women chatted on about men, time ticked by unknowingly _fast_.

* * *

><p>It was 2:12 PM, and Ichigo had asked his red haired friend to get him a cup of coffee about an hour ago… but now it was just getting ridiculous.<p>

Ichigo grumbled and scratched the back of his head in frustration. He needed coffee, and he needed it now.

He had run out of the substance in his office, and had to resort to asking his lazy friend to get him a cup of coffee. That was the problem though. Renji was taking _forever_!

"How can getting a damn cup of coffee take so damn long?" asked Ichigo to himself loudly. He felt like he was going to explode, he hadn't slept more than five hours for the past _several_ days, he had run out of coffee, and he just felt like utter crap.

"I couldn't find my car keys! And the employee at the coffee shop didn't know how to make a simple black coffee," answered a red haired man, Renji, as he walked through the office door.

"About time you got here!" Ichigo exclaimed, taking the coffee Renji placed on his desk.

The other man grumbled and dropped himself into one of Ichigo's office chairs, "You really look like shit." Renji said bluntly, taking a sip of his own coffee.

Ichigo scowled, "You needn't remind me, Renji," he said, yawning.

"Needn't? I haven't heard that one in a while. Back to your lit books again, Ichi?" Renji asked humorously.

"Oh, shut up. I've just had a lot on my mind lately, and I've had little to no sleep," replied the orange haired man, leaning his head on the back of his big office chair.

Renji frowned and finished the last of his coffee, "You're still thinking about Senna, right?"

When Ichigo didn't answer, he continued. "What are you? Some girl from a shoujo manga? You know she still loves you, and those problems you guys had before are long forgotten. So don't let it bother you, she'll come back to Japan to visit eventually, sheesh," finished Renji.

Ichigo's scowl lifted a little, "Renji, you're really something, you know that? Being able to say that so bluntly. I can't wait to see the day you find a woman you're actually serious about, and have her make you feel real pain," he said with a hint of humor.

"Well, you see, that's just it, Ichigo. You just have to be like me, and then no woman can screw with your mind," said Renji rather smugly with a toothy grin.

"So basically I have to be an unfeeling manwhore?" Ichigo said, snickering.

"Yeah-" Renji stopping mid-sentence, glared at Ichigo, "I'm not a manwhore, I'm way better than that. At least I call the girls back."

"Like that makes things any better. So if you're not an unfeeling manwhore, then what does that make you?" Ichigo asked, taking out a manila folder from inside of his desk and opening it.

"It just means I'm popular with the ladies, like back in college!" exclaimed Renji proudly, eying Ichigo's paperwork. He got up and threw away his coffee cup before walking over to Ichigo's desk and peeking at his paperwork.

"You're not done yet? I thought old man Yama said Ishida was taking your shift for today? And what the hell is that? Rhinophar- something?" asked Renji, leaning his elbow on Ichigo's shoulder as he attempted to understand the content on the papers.

Ichigo rolled his eyes, "Rhinopharyngitis. It's another name for the common cold. Even a child could figure that out, notice 'rhino' as in the rhino virus," he said, scribbling something on the paper. "And old man Yama did say that I had the day off, but then he told me I had to go to a small meeting at three today though. So basically, it's like I'm still working. It doesn't matter either way, it's not like I have anything better to do and I'll have to get this paperwork done sooner or later."

The other man sighed and shook his head, "Man, you don't know how to live…" said Renji in disappointment, before he got an idea, "that's why I'm gonna help you!"

Renji out of nowhere grabbed Ichigo's shirt collar, and yanked him out of his chair. "You're coming with me!" exclaimed the red head, grabbing Ichigo's car keys and exiting the office.

"What the _hell_, Renji? Let go of me!" yelled Ichigo as his "friend" dragged him around on the floor like a sack of potatoes through the halls of the hospital.

"Renji, you better not be bringing me to a strip club. And why the hell do you have a sleep mask with you anyways?" asked an annoyed Ichigo, blindfolded.

Ignoring the question about the sleep mask, "Nope, better," answered Renji.

The orange haired man could just feel Renji smirking through the sleep mask, and he had a feeling he wouldn't be looking forward to whatever his friend was so enthusiastic about.

_Moments later…_

_2:40 PM_

There, standing in all its glory was, _Halibel's chateau_, one of the very popular high end bars in Tokyo.

"I'm not going in there," Ichigo said, walking in the opposite direction.

"Come on! You haven't been to a bar since your last year of college! And we both know you definitely need some… relief," Renji said, trying to sound convincing.

"Renji…" Ichigo said in a dangerous tone, raising his voice by a decibel.

The red haired man stepped in front of Ichigo, "Just a little might do! No harm done!"

Ichigo scowled deeply, "Renji, I'm not going to the meeting remotely drunk or even smelling anything like alcohol," he said stubbornly, walking around Renji towards the car.

"Well, how about later?" said Renji with a smirk on his face. "You never said no!"

"I'm a pediatrician, goddammit! I'm not going drinking!" exclaimed Ichigo, fuming. "And that's final! Now give me my car keys."

Renji, not protesting, threw him his car keys, "Fine, but I'm not giving up on your case just yet!" he declared, scowling slightly.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and got in the driver's seat with Renji following behind and hopping in the passenger's seat.

"Who said you could ride with me?" Ichigo questioned in a slight joking tone.

"Well, the little speck of kindness in your heart wants to help your best friend, who happened to leave his car at the hospital. So I think you should follow what that speck of kindness wants," Renji said awfully sweetly.

"Little speck of kindness? That just got you a step closer to walking back," said Ichigo smirking. "But since this 'little speck' seems to be feeling generous today, I'll give you a ride."

Renji laughed and then pulled out his seat belt before taking a mysteriously inappropriate looking magazine out of his pants.

Ichigo, choosing to ignore Renji and his magazine, started the car's engine. The vehicle roared with life, lighting up all the buttons in the car, as well as the digital clock.

He looked over and glanced at the digital clock in his car.

2:48 PM, it read.

Suddenly his blood turned cold.

"Fuck! I'm going to be late for the meeting!" Ichigo cursed, immediately pressing his foot on the clutch and driving away.

At the force of the car's movement, Renji, who dumbly didn't put on his seat belt correctly, flew forward smacking his forehead against the window.

"Ow!" Renji clutched his forehead, and glared at Ichigo. "Why don't you go any _faster_? Maybe you'll hit a pothole and smack your head against the roof!"

* * *

><p>"Ruki! You look so professional! It's been so long since I've seen you in your work clothes," Orihime cheered, packing the last of the food.<p>

The raven haired woman grinned, and grabbed her car keys. "You guys came on the bus, right?" she asked her two friends, who nodded.

"Okay then, I'll give you guys a ride since I have to go that way anyways," said Rukia, without even asking them for their consent.

She glanced at the clock, reading two thirty, "It's the perfect time to move, come on," she said walking towards the genkan to put on her shoes.

"Oh, and I almost forgot. I got you guys some presents, open them when you get home, 'kay?" said Rukia, pointing to the wrapped up presents on the side table.

_Later…_

"Can you drop me off here, Ruki?" asked Orihime, pointing over to a café.

The car slowly pulled over to the side walk, and suddenly the auburn haired woman turned to Rukia in the driver's seat.

"Sorry Tatsuki and I couldn't visit you sooner! We had to find a time we were free so we could visit together. Sorry you had to wait two full weeks…" said Orihime apologetically, tearing up. "I'm such a bad friend!"

Instantly, the sound of sniffles alerted Rukia that her friend was about to start her water works.

"No, no, no! It's okay, I really don't mind! I was pretty busy too, Hime!" Rukia assured, noticing the water works were starting. "Don't cry anymore! It's okay, really."

She handed her crying friend the box of strawberry scented tissues, she always kept in the car, to wipe her snot. She smiled kindly and patted Orihime on the head like a puppy.

Orihime sniffled some more and blew her nose, "I'm glad! And thank you for the tissues, they smell nummy," she said gratefully before opening the car door and exiting. "Ja ne!"

After waiting until the bubbly woman entered the café safely, Rukia and Tatsuki rode on.

"You can just drop me off at the hospital since it's already two forty-nine, there's a dojo nearby," Tatsuki offered.

"Wait, how long does it take to get to there from here? The hospital, I mean," asked Rukia, feeling a tinge of panic.

"Hmm… since we just passed _Halibel's Chateau_, about fifteen minutes or so if I guessed correctly," said Tatsuki, shrugging.

"Wait, _fifteen _whole minutes?" asked Rukia unbelievingly. Suddenly, she felt the urge to start banging her head against the steering wheel. "I have to get there by three o' clock sharp and there's probably going to be traffic! There's always traffic near hospitals… and if I don't make it there on time, Nii-sama's going to have my head!"

At that moment, she went from driving 45 mph to 59 mph, blasting through the streets of Tokyo, quickly entering central Tokyo.

Startled by the sudden speed, "Rukia, the speed limit's forty!" yelled Tatsuki, fear taking over her features. "You passed the limit by fourteen!"

The other woman grumbled, "It's not like anybody else actually follows the speed limit! But I'll lower it a little anyways," Rukia said, thoughtfully.

After several minutes of Rukia rambling to herself, she suddenly stopped and her facial features lightened up. "Hey, I see it nearing us! The parking garage is _right there_! Just a little more-"

As if right on cue to make her life miserable, the black Mercedes in front of her came to sudden stop, making her slam her foot on the brake. Unfortunately though, that wasn't enough, causing her to bump into it. Luckily though, the brake brought the force of her bump to a minimum, not causing a lot of damage to the Mercedes.

"Are you _fucking _kidding me? Right in front of the parking garage too?" growled Rukia, pulling into the sidewalk along with the black Mercedes. _I'm going to be so late, s_he thought, slamming her head against the steering wheel repeatedly.

The driver of the Mercedes had gotten out of his or her car and started knocking on the driver's side window. "Hey, you, get out of the car!" said the driver.

Rukia groaned, and opened her car door. She turned to the side to get a look at the driver, and practically tripped while stepping out of her car.

_He,_ as in the driver, was hot as hell. His face was finely shaped, and he looked pretty well built. Even his weird colored hair was hot…

"Okay, I'm in hurry, so why don't you just give me your phone number and we can deal with this shit later. You got that?" demanded the hot guy.

Immediately, Rukia snapped out of her trance and her mood turned sour. She glared at him and said, "Excuse me? Why should I give you my number? You were the one who stopped abruptly!"

"Well, _you_ were the one who hit _me_! If you were watching the road, we wouldn't even be in this situation!" He yelled, pointing to the dent in the back of his Mercedes.

Rukia felt like ripping the hair off her head, "Ugh! I don't have time for this! Let's just exchange numbers and we can deal with this later!" she exclaimed, taking a post-it note and pen from her car and writing her number and name on it, him doing the same.

They exchanged post-it notes and dirty looks right before getting back into their cars and driving away.

When Rukia got back into her car, she took a glimpse at the post-it that was given to her from the –not-so-hot-anymore-guy. _Kurosaki Ichigo_ was written messily in katakana.

_Strawberry? _she thought humorously.

"Rukia! The meeting!" reminded Tatsuki from the passenger seat urgently.

Rukia blinked in surprise, she had completely forgotten Tatsuki was there. Pushing the thought aside, she sped off to her point of destination.

* * *

><p>After kicking Renji out of his car, Ichigo quickly made his way to the elevators, entering one of them right as he got there.<p>

1… 2… 3…

Ichigo tapped his foot repeatedly as he waited for the elevator to reach his floor. It felt like the elevator was moving at the slowest speed possible, and the crappy department store music in the background wasn't exactly helping either.

4… 5… 6…

He remembered the last time he was late to a meeting, things hadn't turned out too pleasant. He was really hoping to avoid his past predicament, but knowing his luck, even if he got there on time something else unfortunate would most likely be awaiting him.

7… 8… 9…

_Just a little more, _he thought, grinding his teeth.

10… 11… 12… 13… 14…

_DING!_

Ichigo sped out of the elevator and rushed through the halls, passing nurses and doctors alike giving him weird looks. He swore he even heard a couple of people saying, "Kurosaki-sensei's late to another meeting again…" in the background.

* * *

><p>"Yes! I made it, exactly three o' clock!" exclaimed Rukia relieved, standing outside of the meeting room. She lightly knocked on door, and slowly opened it, revealing Yamamoto himself and her brother-in-law.<p>

"Hm, it seems you made it right on time, Rukia. Please, have a seat," said Byakuya politely, gesturing to a chair.

Rukia nodded and quickly took a seat.

"Unfortunately, the lead pediatrician you are to be working with is not here yet-" started Byakuya, only to be interrupted by the opening of the door.

"Sorry I'm late, some woman who wasn't watching the road bumped into the back of my car," said a voice that Rukia found quite familiar.

She turned to the door to see who had interrupted, only to come face to face with the same orange haired man with the black Mercedes.

She stood up and pointed at him, gawking, as he did the same to her.

"Y-you!" they screamed in unison.

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><p><strong>AN: ***GASP* It's almost been THREE YEARS since I first published, _Dr. Strawberry & Dr. Midget_ *cries*!

*Sniffles* At least I'm finally done with chapter one of this new version! I was totally expecting to get it done a lot later since I'm incredibly lazy. It's 3:40 AM where I am, and I just feel relieved to get it done. I didn't like the beginning so much as the middle and the end, but it came out somewhat okay, I think!

Thank you to all the people who favorited, alerted, and reviewed the previous version of this story! I'll make sure I make this story _very _worth reading for those who are upset that I got rid of the old one.

Last of all MERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! [It's still December 30th, 2011 for me, but who cares, right?]

**How is it? Is it better than the old version -I certainly hope it is! It's not too dramatic sounding right? Review please!  
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	2. Chapter 1: Conflicting Thoughts

**A/N: Thank you for all the favorites, alerts and reviews! I really appreciate them all! And also, in this chapter, it's mainly to show parts of Rukia's personality. **

**Note: In all chapters, before Ichigo and Rukia get to work, their mornings are shown in little tidbits. **

**[Also, I took this chapter down since I had to make some changes, not major changes, but I didn't want anyone reading the old chapter while I was editing]  
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_**Information and small profiles you may want to know**_**:**

**Kurosaki Ichigo: **He's 27 years old, and if you didn't know, he's a pediatrician. He strongly admires literature, and respects William Shakespeare. He met Renji in his first year of college [pre-med], who had been his roommate at the time. When he's working, he takes his job very seriously, but when he's not working, he's more laid back.

**Kuchiki Rukia: **She's 25 years old, and she too is a pediatrician. However, she is also a debutant artist -who is becoming more popular as time goes. The only problem is that she can't, for some mysteriously strange reason, draw rabbits even though she had a weird fetish with them. She met Tatsuki and Orihime in the middle of her second year of college [pre-med]. She can sometimes be judgmental, but she's also very understanding when time calls for it.

**Abarai Renji: **He's 27 years old, and he's a mechanic who works at a well-known garage near Seireitei hospital. He really should be working in a more professional place rather than a garage, but he chose not to since he's extremely lazy. He's also smooth with the ladies, but tends to break hearts, nicely though. He's laid back and and pretty goofy, but when he feels like it, he can be smart.

**Arisawa Tatsuki: **She's 26 years old, and she's a mechanic. She used to work at Renji's rival garage. She sometimes teaches kids at the dojo near Seireitei hospital when she has time. After having her heart broken by her first love, she now despises men because of it [will be explained later]. She's somewhat impulsive, but kind nonetheless.

**Inoue Orihime: **She's 25 years old, and is a chef at a five star restaurant. She loves food, and is a great cook. However, her own recipes need a little work, they're not yet labeled as "edible." She is also very naïve, open, and curious, which makes her easier to manipulate. She's very kind, generous, and bubbly. She can be serious if time calls for it.

**About Seireitei: **The divisions in Seireitei Hospital are the same as in the Bleach universe's Seireitei, except for a couple of things. One, some of the divisions are specialized in certain medical fields. Two, some characters were taken out since they weren't exactly fit for the title of "doctor." Such as, Kenpachi and Ikkaku, don't fret though, they were given a better position.

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I don't own, nor do I claim Bleach as mine and so on…<strong>

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 1: Conflicting Thoughts<br>**_

Rukia groaned and nibbled on her taiyaki. Today was her first day starting work with that… orange haired _thing_, known as Kurosaki Ichigo. She didn't even know what to call him! He was just a _something_. She didn't even start her work with him yet and she already wasn't fond of him.

After their little unfortunate meeting[s] last week, Yamamoto proposed that Rukia come in for a few days to get a small orientation of the hospital. He had given the carrot-top minimal time off to show her the important material that only the assistants and head doctors knew. Yes, the carrot-top did do that, which helped a lot, but then he gave her a note containing his "rules" and what she had to do for him as his assistant.

_To do list and rules:_

_1. Get me a regular black coffee, and some sort of food substance every morning before getting to the hospital, and it can't be something poisonous. Preferably, western doughnuts or pastries would be nice. _

_2. When at the office, if you notice the coffee machine needs to be refilled, please do so. If there isn't any more coffee, I give you permission to go out and get more. You can drink the coffee too, I don't care, just don't drain it._

_3. Organize my paperwork into little neat piles, please. I'll give you five hundred yen _[About 6 dollars]_ if I have to. _

_4. You must call me, Kurosaki-_sama_. _

_Kurosaki-sama_

Rukia stared at the note in disgust, "Am I his maid or his assistant? I can't tell," she said aloud.

She had woken up early this morning so that she could get ready, and possibly get _Kurosaki-sama's _coffee and pastries. Did she feel like doing so? No way in hell.

Rukia yawned and finished her taiyaki. She got up from her couch and lazily trekked over to the bathroom to fulfill her daily sanitary needs.

Today was going to be an "exciting" day.

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><p>Ichigo stretched and wiped the perspiration from his face with a small towel. He sighed as he felt the cold air hit his wet skin as he exited the gym. <em>Damn, I need a shower… bad, <em>he thought, rushing to his car.

He usually worked out at the gym every morning for an hour or two. Lately though, he had been working extra long every morning. It helped clear out his mind of the world, and also that Renji had made stupid remarks about how he had put on some weight and would lose his six-pack. Not that he cared or anything.

As he drove back to his apartment, his mind drifted off to his new coworker, Kuchiki Rukio or Rukia or whatever her name was. They hadn't a very good start, and things had just gotten worse after that. She had kicked him, yelled at him, and argued with everything he said. It was a good thing he was taught some lessons from one of the psychologists in his division a long time ago. If he hadn't, he would have ended up strangling her.

He couldn't say he hated her, but he also couldn't say he liked her either. After all, he barely knew her, and according to the psychologist, _"You mustn't judge someone without knowing their real personality first."_

As much as Ichigo wanted to believe that, he just couldn't –for Kuchiki Rukia at least. That she-devil was just so… unbelievably short, annoying, pissy, full of herself, cold, and beyond irritating.

"Actually, come to think of it, isn't she related to Kuchiki Byakuya?" mumbled Ichigo to himself. "Eh, stuck up Kuchiki siblings… only I would have the luck of getting stuck with one of them."

Ichigo scrunched his eyebrows and scowled unbelievably deep. Great, his mood was already ruined and he hadn't even seen Ishida once today!

When he made it to his –insanely gorgeous- apartment, he quickly entered… only to see Renji dozing off on his couch. "What the hell, Renji? Since when did you find my extra key? And since when do you live on my couch?" exclaimed Ichigo with his eye twitching.

The said red headed man yawned and rubbed his sleepy eyes, "Since you suck at hiding things. And what are you smoking? This couch has been my buddy since college."

"I do not suck at hiding things! And _my _couch in _my _apartment is _your_ friend?" Ichigo took off his shoes and closed the door, walking toward his bed room.

Renji shrugged, "Yeah, it's been my bud ever since I started hiding crack and alcohol under its cushions," he said smirking.

Ichigo froze, slowly turning to Renji, revealing a menacing expression on his face. He started moving toward the other man, literally sending everything in his path into metaphoric flames, "So all those times I suffered from back aches was because you were hiding crap under my couch? And what did I tell you about doing dru-"

Inching toward the other side of the couch, Renji quickly said, "Dude, I was just kidding! Chillax! You know I wouldn't do drugs, right?"

Ichigo simmered a bit, but kept on glaring at Renji, "You've done a bunch of things that I've told you not to do, so I'd think otherwise. And don't joke about stuff like that. It's more serious than you think. And if I catch you with some sort of drug, you're dead meat."

The other man rolled his eyes, "Sheesh, what are you my mom? You're such a health freak you… doctor-ish doctor. And I wasn't lying about the alcohol though," said Renji, lifting his two socked feet on to Ichigo's coffee table. "You know, lately, you've been really easy to piss off. You're already moody to begin with, but now it's really damn easy to anger you, it's kinda like a game."

As Renji was laughing to himself, Ichigo on the other hand was trying to prevent himself from getting an aneurism because of the red haired dimwit. "So you were hiding shit in my couch! And what do you expect, I'm a fucking doctor! And I am not moody! I've just had a lot on my mind. And get your feet off my coffee table!"

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><p>"Hm… 'a regular black coffee' he says? Okay that I can do, but food substance? How the hell am I supposed to know what the asshole likes?" mumbled Rukia to herself as she reread the "to-do list." She did <em>not <em>have time for this maid shit, let alone did she have time to consider what he liked. But since it was her first day, she might as well just do what the idiot wanted –especially since she was the one who smashed into his car [but she would never admit that, to him at least].

She sighed and grumbled, reading all the food on the menu. After several minutes of looking at overpriced foods, "God, this has got to be more troublesome than my actual job," said Rukia, mentally slapping the palm of her hand to her forehead. _Maybe I'll just get the asshole a bag of random doughnuts, _she thought, approving of her decision. As she started walking over to the "random doughnuts of the week" shelf, someone had lightly tapped her on the shoulder from behind, making her turn around.

"Uh, hi! You're Ichigo-san's new assistant, right? I saw you walking with him last week!" exclaimed a dark haired woman, holding a half eaten croissant.

Rukia just stared back at the other woman suspiciously before coming back to her senses, noticing that she was being rude. "Ah, yes, I am. I'm Kuchiki Rukia and it's very nice to meet you, uh… sorry, but who might you be?" Thank god for the polite Kuchiki speech abilities, if she didn't have those, she would probably end up saying something extremely rude. Something like, _"Who the hell are you? And what do you want from me? And why would you ask me that? In a café? What if I wasn't that idiot's assistant? What would happen then? Huh? Ever thought of that? And why the hell did I tell you my name?" _Yup_, _way too many unnecessary questions asked than answered.

"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! Sorry! My name's Hinamori Momo and it's very nice to meet you too, Kuchiki-chan," said Momo, smiling brightly.

Rukia smiled back politely, "Oh, just forget the honorifics, I'd prefer that you'd call me Rukia."

"Of course! And you can also call me Momo, if you want to that is, Rukia," said Momo with a welcoming smile, walking towards the counter as one of the café employees placed her coffee on it. "So… are you here to pick up Ichigo-san's coffee and pastries?"

The raven haired woman's face lightly tinted of surprise, to only be quickly wiped off. _Does everyone know about the dimwit's 'to-do list,' _thought Rukia somewhat humorously. "Actually, I am, how did you know?" she asked as she picked up one of the small paper bags on the "random doughnuts of the week" shelf.

"Hmm… well, I used to chat with Ichigo-san's old assistant, Senna-san, whenever we saw each other here," answered Momo adding half and half to her coffee. "And if it's any help, she said that Ichigo-san likes anything chocolaty," she said, turning to Rukia.

Rukia groaned as she peeked in the bag in her hands, there was cinnamon, jelly filled, glazed, but no chocolate. "Bleh, whatever, the idiot eats what he gets," she said, plopping the donuts/doughnuts on the counter.

Momo giggled and stood next to Rukia, "You don't seem to like him very much. But don't worry, he's just been having a hard time lately. His old assistant slash ex-girlfriend, moved to the US. And I don't think he's gotten over her yet, nor did she. Matter-of-factly, I don't think they ever will, but that's not what I'm trying to say. Eventually, he'll start to get used to you, and he won't be as irritating. He's really a nice guy when he wants to be."

Rukia started to consider what the other woman said, but it was kind of hard. Sure, Ichigo's girlfriend or ex-girlfriend moved to the US when they supposedly still had feelings for each other, but did that mean he had to make everyone around him feel unpleasant? No, no it didn't. "Well, we'll see about that. So far, he seems pissy to everyone, and you said it yourself, 'he's nice when he wants to be,'" she said, handing money to the cashier for the newly made coffee and doughnuts.

"Well, I'll admit, he does tend to get cranky, but soon he'll warm up to you, I'm sure of it! As long as you don't bring up a touchy topic or anything that might tick him off, he should be fine with you," said Momo, trying to assure Rukia. She grinned, "You know what? You should stop by my division sometime if you're stressed out and have free time! My division specializes in psychology and psychiatry, so if you want to stop by sometime, that would be great! I'm the co-lead doctor, so if you get into some deep doo-doo with the nurses, I can clear it up for you." She went to clap her hands together, but sadly remembered she was holding coffee in one hand, and a croissant in the other.

Rukia was starting to like this girl. She was cute, helpful and kind. She kind of reminded her of her auburn haired friend. "Sure, I'll stop by sometime, anything that gives me a break from him," she said smiling genuinely, "But don't think I hate the guy though, he just makes the atmosphere disturbed is all… well, anyway, I think it's about time we leave, it's quarter to nine."

"Oh! You're right!" Momo said, checking her watch. "Shiro-chan's going to get so pissed! He needs that folder by nine!" She abruptly stuffed her croissant in her mouth and started rushing over to the door, before quickly turning around and politely excusing herself –which ended up sounding muffled due to the croissant nestled in her mouth.

Rukia lifted her eyebrow at the girl, but shrugged it off, "Okay… ?

"Anyways, I guess I should get going too."

She quickly trotted over to the door, and headed out to her car.

People sent her weird looks as she passed by them. Okay, so what if she wasn't wearing a jacket or a coat, and the temperature outside was below 20 [-6.67 Celsius]? Did it matter? Not really. Did she care? Hell no. She had always preferred the cold over humid and hot weather, so weird looks were always thrown her way whenever she walked around without an article of warm clothing on. It wasn't like she cared, anyways. She was used to it.

Rukia unlocked her car and slipped into the driver's seat before igniting it, enjoying the sound of it roar to life. Her eyes flickered to the time, and exhaled a sigh of relief, not even three minutes had passed by since Momo left which was a good thing. Most of the time, somehow just by walking from "point a" to "point b" for Rukia, a lot of time would pass by. Time management was never her thing, but today it seemed she was having a bit of good luck. Waking up early was definitely a good choice.

She pulled out of her parking position on the side of the road and drove away hastily avoiding all black Mercedes she had the misfortune to encounter -which happened to be many. She didn't want to get into _that _kind of situation again, and who knew? What if in one of those many Mercedes, the idiot was sitting comfortably with his weird tattooed friend? Just the thought of it made her want to deliberately choke on a piece of taiyaki.

_Arriving to destination…_

Rukia sighed, and quickly entered Seireitei Hospital, passing by nurses and visitors as she walked through the lobby to the elevators.

The architecture was absolutely breath taking. One would mistake the hospital for some sort of historic art museum. The outside consisted of about three semi-tall white buildings joined together to create a white palace like look, minus the expensive décor. Then, the parking garage surrounded the buildings in a shape of a circle or square [she couldn't really tell], making it almost look like some sort of castle. She was probably just exaggerating though. She tended to do that often.

The elevator opened, accompanying her into its space. She pressed the button that directed it to go up to the 14th floor, and just waited patiently as the moving platform did its job. Noticing that there wasn't any lame music for her to fall asleep too, she started humming the Chappy the rabbit theme.

10 minutes passed by, and only 5 floors moved.

Okay, she was starting to get really pissed now. How long could it possibly take to move 14 floors? Sure, 5 or 6 minutes made sense, but definitely no more than 10.

"God, I swear, every minute of my life is meant to be miserable…" said Rukia as she stared at the slowly increasing floor meter. At least it was making some progress now. There were only 3 floors left.

_Ding! _

Rukia hurriedly rushed out of the elevator once it opened and made her way down the hall, trying not to spill the coffee in her hand.

It seemed like she was a walking disturbance. The sound of her heels clacking was severely killing the silence in the halls, and the ruffling sound of the doughnut bag wasn't any help either.

Approaching her new office, she opened the door only to be welcomed by the sight of Kurosaki Ichigo in his office chair staring directly at her as if he was awaiting her appearance.

"Ah, good to see you made it here without killing anybody's eardrums with your clacking. I could hear it from all the way down the damn hall!"

What a wonderful welcome.

"I'm glad you could hear it 'from all the way down the damn hall,' Kurosaki-sama! Maybe every morning I should clack even louder so your ears bleed!" said Rukia with feigned cheerfulness. She closed the office door, and started towards "Kurosaki-sama's" desk –digging her heels into the floor with every step. "And here's the coffee and donuts you wanted," Rukia giggled, and batted her eyelashes innocently.

Ichigo eyed her suspiciously, and cautiously took the food items from out of her possession. The only problem was that… she wasn't letting go of the doughnut bag. He started to tug on it, but her grip never faltered.

Rukia smiled creepily, and pulled the bag out of his hand quickly and smacked him over the head with it. She dropped it on his desk and stuck her tongue out before clacking away to her desk.

"What the hell was that for, bitch?" questioned Ichigo, rubbing his head. He was definitely sure that his respect meter for her just went down a notch. Not that it was a decent amount to begin with.

"Just eat your doughnuts and shut up," said Rukia, plopping into her ridiculously comfy office chair. She looked down at the many manila folders laid down on her desk and curiously looked through them.

Ichigo grumbled but then noticed her curiosity with the folders, "Oh, those are the profiles of the intensive care patients. There's paperwork in all the folders that you need to fill out and give to Ishida."

Rukia examined the "inch thick" folders, and placed seven of them to the side, leaving one in front of her to work on. "How come the nurses aren't taking care of these?"

"They are, just the more urgent papers. You're filling out the more complex details. All the tests are there, and if you need to, you can check on the patients," explained Ichigo, plopping his own load of paperwork on his desk.

She nodded and grabbed her Chappy the Rabbit collectable light up pen [she had brought in all her stuff the week before]. She clicked it, and smiled brightly at how the tiny rabbit head changed different colors.

"Really? A light up pen? How old are you? Five? A four year old even said they wouldn't be caught dead with one of those hideous rabbit pens. Not that I would blame them," said Ichigo chuckling. "You're like an overgrown child. Actually, scratch that, you look like a child and you act like one too. "

That abruptly earned him, a rabbit printed stapler magically connecting with his face.

"Chappy is not hideous! And I do not look or act like a child!" yelled Rukia, grinding her teeth together. She didn't like to result to violence, but this guy really deserved it.

"Will you stop inflicting pain to my head you little she-devil!" Ichigo grabbed his face in pain, and glared daggers at Rukia.

"I will if you stop being such an as-" she suddenly stopped mid sentence, noticing a small boy in a hospital gown peeking into the office through a small opening in the door.

She blinked at him and slowly walked toward him. She opened the door wider and kneeled down to the boy's height, "Do you need something?" she said, instantly changing her tone of voice to a more softer, kinder tone.

The boy nodded, "Do you know where my 'kaa-san is?" asked the boy silently. He looked no more than six years old.

Rukia opened her mouth to say something, but closed it, not knowing what exactly to say. What could she say?

"Yuichi?" asked Ichigo walking up from behind Rukia and smiling kindly at the boy. "You shouldn't be up, you haven't completely healed yet."

The boy, Yuichi, smiled once he saw Ichigo and ran to him grabbing a hold of his pant leg. "But I feel perfectly fine, Ichigo-san! I can run and jump again!"

Ichigo chuckled, "I'm glad you feel fine, but I still think you should rest so that you'll be one-hundred percent better," he said, grinning. He kneeled down and ruffled Yuichi's hair.

Rukia just watched the engagement with a tiny smile on her face. She felt kind of nice and warm inside. This was kind of cute.

"But I want to find my 'kaa-san! Please let me!" exclaimed Yuichi, looking up at Ichigo expectantly.

The orange haired man smiled affectionately at the small boy and shook his head "no. " Yuichi reminded him of himself when he was younger, always persistent to find his mother. This scene also seemed familiar to him too, a small young boy looking around a hospital for his mother, only to find out she wasn't with them anymore. Except in Yuichi's case, his mother was in a coma –not that he would actually tell the poor boy, unless he was ready to hear it. "Yuichi… your 'kaa-san still isn't well yet. Sorry, I can't let you see her yet. When you're better and she's better, I promise I'll let you go see her, okay?"

The small boy looked down at his hands and thought before reluctantly nodding his head.

"Good, then it's a promise! For now, you'll need to build up your strength so when you do get to see her, she'll see you strong and healthy," said Ichigo, holding one of his arms up to emphasize strong muscles. He lent Yuichi his hand before he stood up. He turned to Rukia, "I'll be back in a little." He then left the office at a nice slow pace, taking to mind the small boy's short legs.

Rukia nodded and watched as the two walked away. She got up once they disappeared from her sight and went back to her desk. She looked down at the paperwork on her desk and sighed, staring at it blankly.

She sat there with her hand up to her cheek, checking off boxes.

It was weird, in a total of five minutes her opinion of the orange haired idiot went from an idiotic insult-worthy man to a kind and considerate gentleman. What made it weirder was that at that moment, Ichigo's resemblance to _him _was so similar that it made her cringe. The smile and expression were exactly the same as _his_. She knew that Ichigo wasn't _him_, but the resemblance was so close that it was hard to tell the difference other than Ichigo's hair and scowl.

Rukia had noted the similarities when she first actually looked at him, but she never gave much thought into it. As much as she hated to admit it, it kind of bothered her. She couldn't look him in the eye for anymore than five seconds –which was an accomplishment itself. Besides finding him annoying, this was also a reason why she wanted to avoid him. Yes, it was ridiculous, but sometimes, there were some things a girl had to do to make her life a little less shitty. There were times when these things called for being a bit ridiculous.

She bit on the middle of her pen, and just stared into space until-

"Oi! Kuchiki, are you listening?"

Rukia jumped slightly, noticing that Ichigo was already back and in front of her desk. She stared at him as he furrowed his eyebrows at her. Not feeling comfortable under his gaze, she looked away. "Uh, what do you want?" she asked, trying not to think of what she was just pondering on about. She had to think of something else, like his bushy-ish eyebrows! Actually, that was a matter worth thinking of. His eyebrows were abnormally bushy, not _that _bushy, but bushy. They were like tiny orange wooly bears.

"Well, I was telling you that if Yuichi ever comes by looking for his mother, tell him she's not well yet. His mother's in a coma right now, and might not ever wake up, so I don't want him to know just yet," said Ichigo looking at her weird.

Rukia nodded, looking at the wall behind him. "But… wouldn't it be easier to just tell him? I'm sure he'll understand, leaving him hanging like this won't do any good."

"True, but he's still not well, and the last thing I would want is for him to start worrying about his mother when he's not even better yet. It's too much pain to handle for a small caring and sensitive kid like him," said Ichigo scratching the back of his head, looking sadly out the window.

"I see…," said Rukia, finally looking up. She saw his retreating form going back to his desk and mentally sighed in relief.

"You know, most of the children here are always looking for their parents, sometimes their parents don't even come to visit them so it's kind of depressing," said Ichigo as he sat down in his office chair and began scribbling things on his paperwork.

Rukia nodded and slowly began to examine the papers on her desk.

Now she had conflicting thoughts of Kurosaki Ichigo. She had been dreading having to work with him for the past week, but now she suddenly felt like she could tolerate working with him despite the similarities between him and _him_. Oh well, life sucked that was for sure.

"Oh, and don't call me Kuchiki. I'm Rukia, just Rukia," said Rukia. Well, if she was going to work with this idiot, she ought to at least try to get along with him. Firstly, she had to try to get used to staring at him for more than five seconds.

"Heh, same goes for me, Rukia. And 'Kurosaki-sama' was only to piss you off," Ichigo said, smirking. His smirk slowly deteriorated when he noticed Rukia staring at him intently. It was creeping the hell out of him! She was being like Renji's old iguana that just kept staring at him.

His only thoughts then, were, _Crazy bitch!_

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><p><strong>AN:**Yes! I'm finally finished with this chapter! I meant to finish it two weeks before, but I never got the time to do it. Rukia's kind of OOC in this story, but it's nothing too bad, I hope!

**Please tell me what you think so far! Reviews and opinions are appreciated!_  
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	3. Chapter 2: Getting Passed the Past

****Sorry, the chapter was temporarily deleted! I'm investigating on the not sending of the update emails, and so far, there _are_ readers who didn't get the message sent to them. And this has happened with many other peoples' stories as well. This delay glitch happens often apparently, and it seems like it's always my luck whenever this happens, oh well.**  
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**Anyways, this chapter is mostly Rukia-centric and not very exciting, but it shows how much Rukia's past means to her. So enjoy!  
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><p><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I don't own anything.

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 2: Getting Passed the Past<strong>_

Rukia exhaled deeply as she scraped the image of _him_ out of her head, unaware of how tight she was squeezing her coffee cup. She reminisced to last night when she had a talk with Tatsuki on the phone about _him _and the orange haired buffoon she had the misfortune to work with. She didn't understand what made her troubled about it! Sure, they looked alike, but other than that, there was no relation. She thought she had gotten over the similarities between Ichigo and _him _last week anyways, but apparently not. She hated being bothered by trivial things like this and if it weren't for Tatsuki's advice, she would have ripped her hair out of her head.

_Last Night…_

_Tatsuki breathed heavily over the phone, most likely working out_. "So? How's work with you know who?"_ she asked as she kicked a dummy, the sound echoing throughout the dojo. _

"_Don't get me started on him. He orders me around like I'm his maid or something and he always thinks everything I do is wrong. It's annoying! And we always argue about one thing or another," complained Rukia, playing with her cupped ramen. She scowled at the noodles and picked at them like a child would their vegetables. "He's beyond irritating, 'Get me a coffee, would ya? Can you go get my files from the Ishida for me? Can you hand me that book?' he says. Asswipe."_

_The other woman laughed, _"That bad? Well, how are you dealing with the other side of him? You know, his resemblance to 'the douchebag who must not be named?'"

_Rukia stopped fiddling with her noodles, and blinked a couple of times. She blankly stared at the TV, not paying attention to the show that was running. Her scowl never left her face as she thought, shuffling around in her fuzzy pajamas on her living room couch. "I was okay with it for the first week, but as much as I hate to admit it, I still see _him _sometimes even though I keep telling myself they're different people. I only see a little flicker of _him_ though, but usually afterwards, my temper gets the best of me and I start an argument with Ichigo. Arguing with him makes me forget." It was pretty much the only way she could communicate with him; it "hid" the real her and took her mind off of the "douchebag who must not be named."_

"This might sound like I've gone crazy, but maybe you should befriend Kurosaki. If he becomes your friend, you'll be able to see the differences being him and _him_. You'll see him as Kurosaki Ichigo, not the asswipe." _Due to the lack of sound created by air and movement, Rukia guessed that Tatsuki was probably standing still with her arms crossed. _"Just give it a try, you might be surprised at the results. And he doesn't seem _that _bad. If befriending doesn't work, focus on his orange hair or something and force yourself to forget. It helps me."

_The short haired woman thought for a minute, considering Tatsuki's idea. She placed her cupped ramen on the coffee table in the middle of the living room and leaned back onto her couch, taking the phone from between her cheek and shoulder. "Do we even have time to become friends? The hospital is a 'professional work zone.' And you know me, Tatsuki, I have trouble making friends," said Rukia, crossing her arms. "And what you mean 'he doesn't seem that bad?'"_

_Tatsuki's laugh could be heard on the other side, _"You're being childish. If you haven't noticed, most co-workers befriend each other in less than ten minutes! Stop avoiding what you don't like. And the only reason you find him irritating is because you won't give him a chance to be himself, and you're hiding your real self too. Arguing isn't going to last forever you know. Just face the facts," _she said, serious. _"Well, anyways, I go to go! Oyasumi! And remember what I said."

_End…_

Rukia yawned, waiting as the workers at the café readied her order. She didn't understand, last week, she was full of confidence with working with the orange haired man, but over the weekend, her confidence melted. She groaned at her supposed helplessness, "Fuck… I sound like I'm from some sort of angst-y drama." She brushed her fingers through her hair and leaned her cheek on her elbow that was resting on the counter.

"Sorry to say, hon', but you also look like you're from an angst-y drama too!" said a female voice from behind her.

She turned to come face to face with huge breasts, each the size of her head, if not bigger. _And I thought Orihime's boobs were huge_, thought Rukia, backing up at the sudden meeting with the woman's breasts, not believing they were naturally that big.

Shaking away her surprise, she looked up to get a look at the other woman's face and found herself staring at pretty strawberry blonde woman staring back at her with a playful smile.

The woman blinked at her surprised expression before laughing, "Oops! Forgot to introduce myself!" She cleared her throat, "Hi! I'm Matsumoto Rangiku from division ten! Nice to meet you!"

Rukia stared at her before remembering her manners, "Ah, yes, I remember seeing you walking with Hitsugaya-sensei. Nice to meet you, Matsumoto-san! I'm Kuchiki Rukia." She brought out her hand and Rangiku held it with both her hands, shaking it happily.

Could she be a more "adult-like" version of Orihime? They both had big breasts, but Rangiku's were bigger. They were both fairly bubbly too, but Orihime was more high- school-girl bubbly, if that made sense.

"You're so tiny and adorable!" The buxom woman abruptly brought the petite woman into a big hug, shoving her head in between her rather large gifts. "So much cuter than that bitch, Senna!" Rangiku said, half happily, ending spitefully.

Rukia raised one of her brows, _Ichigo's ex-girlfriend? _She was really curious now, what was it that compelled people to bring up the topic of Ichigo's ex-girlfriend around her anyways? It had nothing to do with her, so how come people mentioned Senna when they talked to her? "Ichigo's ex-girlfriend?"

"Yeah, that bitch. Personally, I hate her. We went to college together and we've had some issues with each other." Rangiku grimaced just talking about Senna. When one of the café workers asked her what she wanted, she let go of Rukia and her darkened face turned to one of pleasant happiness, "Could I get a tall vanilla bean frappuccino with cinnamon on the top? And a green tea with cream and splenda, same size?" The worker nodded and began readying her drinks as another worker came up and placed a different coffee on the counter.

Noticing that it was the coffee meant for Ichigo, Rukia picked it up and slipped it in a paper sleeve, along with her own drink. "I was just wondering, how come people always mention this, Senna-san, whenever they see me? I remember Momo raving about it the first time I saw her here. She said something about not talking to him about her or some crap like that."

Rangiku's ears perked up, "You don't know? Ichigo and Senna used to be _the _couple of Seireitei hospital! But for some unfortunate reasons, for Ichigo anyways, they broke up and he's been a little lost since then. I don't see what he sees in Senna anyways. All I see is a skank who stole my boyfriend in college!" She dug her nails into the counter and growled.

"Ano, Matsumoto-san, we're in public. You can't go around looking murderous like that," said Rukia, trying to calm down the other woman.

"Well, let me just tell you something Rukia-chan. If you have any hopes of getting together with Ichigo, get rid of them. He's apparently a one woman man and it'd take a lot to get him to be interested in any other women," said Rangiku, moving her face closer to Rukia's, making the smaller woman blink.

"I'm far from interested," said Rukia plainly, backing up. "If anything, I'd like to avoid him. But that's not the point! I have no interest in him or his ex-girlfriend."

"That's good then! I can tell we'll be great friends!" exclaimed the strawberry blonde, turning away from her and handing the cashier some money. "If you ever need relationship helps, stop by the tenth division when you have time!"

She grinned one last time before making her way towards the exit waving behind her, "See ya' later, hon'!"

Rukia awkwardly waved back, shrugging after the other woman left. "What was all that about?" Even after that strange talk, or whatever it was, she still didn't know why people brought up the subject of something that wasn't even her business! Who cared if the orange haired buffoon was a lost puppy? It had nothing to do with her.

She inhaled deeply, thinking of her day to come.

* * *

><p>Prancing into the office, she feigned a smile, placing a bag of donuts and a cup of coffee on Ichigo's desk, "Here's your breakfast, your majesty. Enjoy," she said, with a pinch of sarcasm and genuine "friendliness."<p>

Ichigo eyed her suspiciously, obvious finding her behavior a bit out of the ordinary. The sarcasm was normal, but the "friendliness" certainly was now. _What's up with her? _he thought, raising one of his eyebrows. Figuring she was mocking him, he decided to play along, "Why thank you, my humble servant. You may leave now as your services are no longer needed." He smirked when he noticed the corners of her mouth twitching downwards.

Rukia cleared her throat, managing to control her annoyance. She simmered down her sarcastic sweetness, and attempted to talk in the manner she would someone she didn't know, attempting to act friendly. "So, what do we have on our schedule today? If I recall, we're going on our weekly rounds?" she asked politely.

Ichigo nodded, still suspicious.

Usually it wasn't considered weird when someone asked something of him politely without yelling, but this was Kuchiki Rukia, the stubborn, loud mouth she-devil he was forced to cooperate with. If she talked normally, there would be _at least_ one form of insult within the sentence.

He closed the folder he had on his desk and observed her from his peripheral vision. Deciding that maybe she was just a little peppy because she had a date last night –despite his unbelieving that she was capable of dating anyone-, he left her be. He mentally shrugged to himself, _I'll just wait and see what she wants from me later, _he thought, closing the folder he was working on.

She smiled politely and walked over to her desk, organizing the papers on it. While she looked quite happy on the outside, she was far from "lively" on the inside. _That ass, I try to act nice and he gives me a weird look! He really must be foreign to kind people, _she thought, metaphorically slapping the weird look off his face. She sat down and began her usual paper work, using humming as a façade for her real thoughts.

Occasionally she would catch Ichigo looking at her strangely, like she was some kind of weird animal at a zoo. She tried ignoring it at first, but failed when he grimaced at her humming. What was with this guy that pissed her off so much? Oh, right, everything about him pissed her off.

"What are you looking at? Am I _so_ 'radiant' that you have to grimace?" asked Rukia sarcastically, crossing her arms, feeling the urge to piss him off.

"You're as radiant as a crow, I'll let ya' know. And I was cringing at your deafening humming, not your 'beauty' like you probably thought I was in your head. It was killing my ears," he said.

He could already feel a headache coming that would last the whole day, and he hadn't even been at work for an hour! It was all because of this irritable woman he had only recently met who didn't know how to shut her trap. Usually the only people capable of getting him this close to murder was Ishida, his own father and occasionally Renji, but he knew them well so it didn't bother him. This woman on the other hand, he had just met, and she was already bombing at his protective wall!

He wasn't sure whether to be thankful that he didn't get a horny woman as an assistant or disturbed at the thought of not making it out alive without having to fight the "malicious tiger" known as Kuchiki Rukia.

She glared at him, "Why thank you for the comments, they're always appreciated," she said with fake sugariness coating her tone, even making her herself want to vomit. _So much for making friends… _she thought with the tiniest, tiniest drop of disappointment. "I'm sure _your_ 'extravagant' handsomeness wins you many hearts; care to share some advice, Kurosaki-kun?" she said with the same amount of sugary goodness.

Ichigo opened his mouth but closed it again, choosing his words carefully. "I'm not going to waste my breath giving you advice. No matter how hard you try, you'll never get a boyfriend. You're the type that argues, is stuck up, stubborn, annoying and headstrong," retorted Ichigo, "And guys, including myself, don't like that in a women. Including women who bring up fatuous topics to try and aggravate people."

"How insulting, I wasn't aware you were capable of such wording," she tapped her fingers on her desk coolly as a guise of showing she wasn't the least affected by what he said, which she wasn't. She casually drank her slightly warm coffee that she had left on her desk, practically downing it in one gulp. "Just so you know, I don't want a boyfriend anyways. My beliefs are set on that the male gender is good for nothing and worthless."

"Sexist, much?" he snickered, shoving a folder in a drawer. "And actually, it's not that I dislike all women like that. I just don't like you in particular," he said, tapping his pen on the desk. He was itching to tip her coffee cup over as she drank in hopes that she would spill it all over her white dress shirt and doctor's jacket. Now that would be a good laugh.

"Oh, don't worry, the feeling's mutual." Rukia scowled and looked up at him one more time, "And when you've met up with betraying asswipes, you tend to despise the opposite gender. But you wouldn't understand; you've had girlfriends who have actually loved you."

Ichigo widened his eyes slightly at her bitter tone that, strangely enough, seemed as though it wasn't directed towards him but at something or someone else in particular.

Finding that the "conversation" was over, he turned back to his work and jotted down some notes onto a sticky note about avoiding the short raven haired she-devil for the rest of the day in fear of getting decapitated.

Relieved that he didn't reply, Rukia picked out her favorite pen from the Chappy tin pen holder resting on her desk, and made an effort to prevent herself from pulling out her hair.

How could she have said something rather personal and corny? She was really close to saying something way more personal than she would have liked to share! Thinking about what she said, "_But you wouldn't understand; you've had girlfriends who have actually loved you,_" she inwardly groaned at how stupid and dramatic she sounded, slightly embarrassed to have said such a thing. Why did she have to mix private life crap with work?

Metaphorically slapping herself in the face, she attempted to straighten herself out. _No more of this… no more arguing. I need to concentrate on work. I'll apologize like any other person would later and be on my way… yeah, I'll do that._

* * *

><p>After coming back from her rounds with the orange haired demon, she made it first priority to visit the fifth division as Momo had suggested several times that she come from their meetings at the café.<p>

It was currently their lunch break and she suddenly felt the need to talk over some lunch; it was a casual setting and she still got the "help" she needed. Either it was bubbly Rangiku, her stoic brother-in-law or peppy Momo. And out of the three, she picked Momo. The girl specialized in mental health after all, and that's what she needed relief in.

She stood hesitantly in front of the office Momo shared with "Aizen-sensei" -as the girl called him- and suddenly noticed something she had not before. _Why must we share offices anyways? I'll admit, the offices are pretty damn big, but come on. Some people like privacy… not that they're going to do anything unsuitably wrong. _

She scrunched her eyebrows up at the thought, and shook her head, shaking her out of her ridiculous thoughts. She then proceeded to lift her arm to knock on the office door, but stopped when someone from behind spoke up.

"Excuse me, do you need something?" asked a man from behind her.

She turned and met with a rather tall man with brown hair and glasses. She guessed that this was "Aizen-sensei," the guy Momo talked about often.

"Ah, yes, I do. I'm looking for Momo. Do you happen to know where she is, Aizen-sensei?" she asked politely.

"Not at the moment. She must be out getting lunch. Is there something you needed?"

"Well, she offered that I get some counseling from her." She shrugged casually, feeling slightly embarrassed for having told him she needed counseling. Matter-of-factly, she didn't know why she told him in the first place, she could have just said it was nothing and walked away. Maybe it was the kind atmosphere he brought about, or it was his eyes she deemed rather trusting.

"Ah, I see. Then would you like to get some counseling from me instead until she comes back?" he asked, his face still keeping its benevolent expression.

Rukia considered his offer, tapping her fingers against her thigh in thought. _He seems nice, and I'm sure he won't tell anyone if I let something personal slip. He _is _a psychiatrist, _she reasoned with herself. "If that's fine with you, then I'd really appreciate it."

Aizen nodded his head and led her away from the office, "Counseling is for everyone, so of course it's okay." He brought her to a different room; a rather warming room with paintings of the ocean and landscapes scattered on the wall. There was one armchair in the middle with a loveseat facing directly in front of it. The only thing separating the two was a coffee table that had a small shiny black box in the middle of it, filled with different colored rocks and water.

_Doesn't this seem like the typical therapist setting?_

He led her inside, and politely gestured for her to sit.

"Ano… not to be rude, I would like to request if you could talk to me as just another person and not as a psychiatrist or a therapist? I find it more comfortable to keep things casual," she said, laughing nervously.

"That's fine, anything that helps you," he said, sitting himself down in the arm chair. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk about today?"

She nodded her head and smiled as a silent "thank you." She leaned back against the loveseat and sat with her hands neatly together, "This might be a little confusing, but I'll try to explain it as best as I can.

"Let's say there was this man from my past who put a very negative impact on my life, and there's this other man I just met and have to work with. The two men look very similar that I can't help by see some of the man from the past in the man I just met, and it makes me rather angry just thinking about the man from the past, which then leads me to starting an argument with the man I just met because of my sudden turn in mood. What's worse is that we don't get along to begin with, so the arguments just get worse. I thought I had gotten over the similarities between Kai- the man from the past and the man now when I first started working with him, but I guess not." She fidgeted with her hands, and almost growled at her slip up.

Aizen nodded his head, "Why does this man from the past affect how you act with the man now?"

She was silent for a moment, thinking about it, "I… I guess it's from their appearance. They just look _so _similar. The man now reminds me of the past and when I think of the past, I get very angry. It's really childish, but I can't help it. Sometimes, arguing with the man now helps me forget about the man from the past. It's the only way for me to communicate with him."

"Is it the only way? If you think it is, then try befriending him to show that bickering is not the only way, and is never necessary."

"I have already tried, I suppose, and it failed. We just ended up in another argument where I said some personal things." She cringed, remembering her previous idiotic actions. "I also have trouble making friends, so that doesn't help either."

Aizen stayed silent afterwards, most likely thinking of what to say.

"I understand Kurosaki-san can be a bit difficult sometimes, but usually everything he says shouldn't be taken to heart. He never means it, he's a kind person and I think you should try to learn more about the real him instead of hiding yourself behind this façade. Arguing will do no good.

"If it helps, try saying his name after or before every other sentence when you're talking to him, not so much that it would be strange though. Doing this should help you acknowledge that you're talking to Kurosaki Ichigo, not the other man. And every time the thought of this man from the past pops up, suppress it down and ignore it at all costs. Tell yourself this is the present, and your only main concern is the present. Concentrate on your job, and your family and friends, nothing of the past should be a concern. The more you tell yourself this, the easier it becomes before you completely forget about him."

Rukia at first didn't notice that he had mentioned Ichigo's name, but once she did, she questioned it in her head, but soon remembered that he was one of the lead doctors and knew all the assistants of each department.

Though she hated the idea of having to take the advice of a psychiatrist to deal with her problems, she had to admit that his ideas weren't at all bad and she even considered doing them. They weren't completely crazy like the ideas Orihime had given her, or as vague as the ones Tatsuki told her to do.

"I see, and setting that aside, Ichigo and I don't really get along in the first place-"

"Settle with a truce," said Aizen before Rukia could finish, assuring her with a smile.

She nodded, wondering how he could answer everything so calmly and how she actually acknowledged everything he told her. "That seems plausible for us to do," she checked her watch and lifted her head, "thank you for listening. I must go now, have a nice day! Tell Momo I said hi, please!"

She waved and left the office, heading directly towards the elevator.

_I love how I can't figure out my own life, it's laughable. Like Sana-nee always said, 'others' opinions influence your actions more than you know.'_

* * *

><p>"That woman's crazy!" said Ichigo, practically throwing his hands in the air. "She's bipolar, I swear! One moment she's all weird and silent, and the next she's yelling in your face! It's like she's purposely starting a fight with me!"<p>

Uryu shrugged, "I don't see what's wrong with that," he said, pouring himself a cup of tea.

"Are you crazy? This woman doesn't act normal! She's a bitch and gets all mad without having to be that mad! It's like she's a guy in a woman's body!"

"And what's bad about that? You want her to be the typical woman who flirts with you and giggles? And just so you know, you aren't the nicest person in the world," said Uryu, organizing some papers into a cabinet.

The orange hair man glared at Uryu, and leaned on his desk, "I know I'm not the nicest, but I'm sure I'm not that intolerable that someone would get angry just by looking at me. And that's what she does!"

The other man lifted his glasses and sighed, "I wouldn't blame her. Just by looking at you, _I _want to punch you in the face. And plus, you can be really obstinate that someone would get angry." He looked at Ichigo straight in the eye, "Ever since you broke up with your girlfriend, you've been giving everyone the cold shoulder. And you always look like someone crapped on your shoes or something, so don't think she's the only one who's moody."

Ichigo was silent after that, allowing Uryu to continue, "And you never know, she could be PMS-ing or something? Everyone has problems of their own, and she's probably dealing with some problems right now, so don't think you're the only one. Think about it, every time you get troubled by something, the stick in your ass shoves higher."

"You're an asshole, you know that?" said Ichigo, half-smirking, half-glaring.

"Glad to be one," Uryu gave him a hint of a smile, "and are you sure you're not PMS-ing?"

"Go to hell," said Ichigo jokingly, walking towards the office door. "See ya' later, Ishida. Don't forget to give me those files, I need them."

"I'm not as forgetful as you, Kurosaki," the dark haired man smirked. "Now get the hell out of my office."

* * *

><p>Rukia finished her coloring, looking proudly at her masterpiece of deformed bunnies and bears, waiting for her "office buddy." She didn't want to look like she was actually waiting for him, so she got out her sketchbook and started doodling. It would have been better if she filled out her paperwork, but she had too much on her mind to concentrate on that.<p>

For right now, her first priority was to make a truce with the orange haired thing. For some reason, after talking to Aizen, she suddenly felt motivated and confident. She shrugged it off as him being a psychiatrist, but she knew his advice made sense, not that she would admit it. She hated even taking advice from her own friends!

Hearing the door open, she turned, seeing the person whom she waited for. He walked in and dropped something off at his desk before grabbing a manila folder from the cabinet and moving towards her desk.

"Uh, I got those records you needed," he said, handing the folder to her.

She took it, and placed it on her desk, "Thanks," she said awkwardly, thinking of a way to propose her idea. "Ano… I just wanted to say that since we have to work together for quite awhile, I think that we should act professional as we were not before, _Ichigo_. We shouldn't be arguing or acting childish like we have for the past week… okay, we can argue but not as much. So, truce?" she stuck out her hand and trying to ignore his dumbfounded face.

Ichigo looked at her face before looking down at her hand. His eyes flickered back and forth as she stood, trying to keep her annoyance down to a minimum.

_Just take my fucking hand! It's not that hard._

After what felt like years, he finally took her hand and shook it. "That just saved me a lot of work," he said, making her raise her brow in confusion. He quickly glanced to the side when something caught his eye. What was that he saw? A sketch book filled with nasty bunny drawings and crappy colorings on _her _desk!

The only way he could tell it was her who drew the drawings was from her chicken-scratch handwriting on the sides.

Bursting out laughing, he walked over to her desk, and picked up her sketchbook, "What the hell is this supposed to be?" He pointed to a drawing and laughed harder at how deformed it was, "Is that a cockroach?"

"No! That's a dog, you dumbass! Can't you see the ears and tail?" defended Rukia, her eye twitching.

"That is _not _a dog!" Ichigo said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Since you said we have to act mature and not childish, these shit drawings have to go! I'm not being caught dead with these _anywhere _near my desk! Not even a hundred kilometers!"

Without even a second after hearing what he said, Rukia snapped her arm and pointed to the office door. "Get the fuck out."

"Make me," he said, smirking.

"Go to hell, Kurosaki," she spat, her fingers twitching.

"Gladly."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **This chapter wasn't exciting was it? It's fairly important though, it's supposed to signify how much Rukia's past rattles her. And sorry if she was a little OOC...

Anyways, the next chapter is when the story _really _starts! So look out for more drama and lurve!

I was asking for ideas and situations, but I thought of some and everything seems plausible, so thanks to anyone who tried!**  
><strong>

**Anyways, boring or moderate? I wrote it several times so I tell me what you thought it of it!  
><strong>

**Reviews/opinions are appreciated!  
><strong>


	4. Chapter 3: Introducing

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, etc, etc...**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 3: Introducing… <strong>_

Ichigo plopped down in his chair, inhaling deeply at finally being able to sit down after having an uneventful morning of appointments. He had arrived at around six due to some scheduled appointments as well as an "emergency."

The "emergency," of course, turned out to just be a child who was falsely paranoid about having tapeworms. He demanded his mother that he be taken to the hospital to get checked out so he wasn't "eaten alive by mutant worms" at well around five in the morning! While Ichigo did think that was fairly cute considering the child was only four, he also found it aggravating to be woken up extra early in the morning by his pager only to have the situation be a false alarm. However, after some reasoning and several cups of extra black coffee, he got over his morning stage of "senseless annoyance" and was able to tell the difference between good and bad.

He was not the only one aggravated though. The pipsqueak's own mother did not think it was cute at all and was fairly cranky. Hospital service wasn't exactly cheap after all, even with insurance, and when all the hubbub was the result of some paranoia from the travel channel, the high fee wasn't at all desirable.

The other few appointments after that weren't as interesting since they consisted of the usual fractured bone and physical. The patients themselves were fussy annoying fifteen year olds with out of whack hormones who didn't even want to roll up their pant sleeve or change into a hospital gown! They were too "sensitive," says their mother, and they weren't even female.

And that was why he's always preferred younger children, they were easier to handle and fun to joke around with. He got along well with them, and they were always obedient for him, if not their own parents.

"Damn! My neck hurts like a bitch," complained Renji, disrupting the silence of the office as he unceremoniously marched in with a plastic bag in hand. He dropped down onto the loveseat in front of Ichigo's desk and stretched, post placing the plastic bag down.

"Too much grump dancing?" asked Ichigo, not even sparing Renji a glance as he flipped through files in the portfolio on his desk.

"No_, actually_," The red haired man glared at his friend and stretched out his arms on to the back of the couch. "There's this chick that just started working about a week ago, and for some damn reason, she always has the urge to disagree and argue with everything I say! And she's in the same team I am in too! To make it worse, our offices are right across from each other. It's ridiculous!"

Ichigo raised one of his brows, suddenly feeling some kind of "déjà-vu."

"Where have I heard that before? Sounds familiar…"

"That's not the point! Right now, all I need is something to help with my neck troubles!" Renji pointed to his neck to emphasize.

The orange haired doctor behind the desk rolled his eyes, "Neck troubles?" he murmured, snickering. "There are some heating pads in the cabinet," he said, jerking his thumb in the direction of the office cabinet to the side, not bothering to lift his head.

Renji got up and walked over to the said cabinet and started rummaging around. Playing with the equipment inside instead of actually looking for the heating pads, "What's this? Looks like a deformed tampon?"

"Will you stop screwing around? And the pun's intended." Ichigo snatched the "deformed tampon" out of the other man's clutches and replaced it with the heat pads. "I tried keeping everything in here organized, but of course you have to snoop around and mess it all up."

"Becoming like Ishida are we?" mumbled Renji, walking back to "his mojo." And "his mojo" being the loveseat couch that he always occupied every time he came to Ichigo's office uninvited, which was every week if not every day.

"Don't you have to go to work? Where do you find the time to go to my office just to mess around every day?"

"When it's my lunch break. It's also yours if you haven't noticed," said Renji, pointing to the clock.

Ichigo turned to the clock and widened his eyes, "You're actually right for once." He took off his glasses and slipped it into its case. "That's why she isn't here," he said, realization coming to his head.

Renji rolled his eyes and picked up the plastic bag he brought with him and took out several Chinese food boxes, "Are you talking about the little she-devil with a bad spit fire?" He handed Ichigo a large container of what looked like rice noodles with some kind of curry sauce mixed in it.

"Yeah, she's probably out getting lunch with her friends, if she has any," answered the orange haired man, looking hungrily at the noodles on his desk. "Did you get the salt and pepper squid?"

"When do I ever forget?" Renji cleared the front of Ichigo's desk, and unceremoniously placed the many Chinese food boxes on it. "Oh, and I asked for extra spicy Singapore chow mei fun, so be grateful," he said, watching as Ichigo literally swallowed everything.

As the two barbarically ate, like men did, Ichigo popped up a question, "Is that new worker of yours tom boyish, hot-headed, pretty petite and quick to snap?"

"How'd you know?" said Renji, sarcastically, scowling at the thought of the woman. "She's horrible! So not my type. You know, that I think about it, I won't be surprised if she's friends with your little headache."

* * *

><p>"I hate him! He's a womanizing good-for-nothing pig!" yelled Tatsuki, ending her story, unaware of the stares being sent her way. She stabbed a piece of sushi angrily and shoved it in her mouth. "He mocks me all the time and I can tell he's checking my ass out! I called him out for it one time and he blatantly denied it. Then when he leaves for work, there's always a girl who comes and gets in the car with him. And it's a different girl each time! I hate men like that!" Pieces of rice flew out of her mouth as she complained.<p>

"He can't be _that _bad. Maybe you're just overreacting like Rukia was," said Orihime, mixing duck sauce, honey, wasabi, and soy sauce together to create her ultimate dipping sauce.

"I'm not overreacting! He's really an asswipe!" yelled Tatsuki post swallowing.

"And I was not overreacting!" added Rukia to her defense. She frowned and dipped a tuna roll into her soy sauce, "I just had a lot on my mind."

Orihime shrugged and picked out some sashimi from the large plate in the center, "Could have fooled me. And are you sure you two just don't like them?"

The two woman next to her, snapped their heads and stared at her with the casual, "What are you smoking?" face that they always made when she said something totally implausible and ludicrous. And as expected, they used it often.

"What? And no, I didn't eat any fruit loops this morning," said Orihime, pouting and crossing her arms over her chest.

Her two friends shook their heads, continuing back to what they were doing.

"I don't think it's the fruit loops that did anything. What you said was too surreal for something produced by fruit loops," said Rukia, picking the ginger off her sashimi.

The auburn haired woman rolled her eyes, "You guys are always too serious! You're always telling me to get a boyfriend, but neither of you ever try to get one yourselves! It's no fun being the only one 'available.' And when I want to stay single too, you guys yell at me!"

She frowned and stuck her bottom lip out, watching as her friends stayed silent knowing she was partially right.

"Well, since none of you are talking about anything interesting, I'll start by saying… I have a new favorite customer!" said Orihime, happily.

Instantly within two seconds after saying it, both Tatsuki and Rukia snapped their heads to her.

"Who is he?" asked Tatsuki, placing her chopsticks down.

"Does he look like a pervert?" asked Rukia, picking up her tea and sipping it.

"Ano… I don't really know his first name, but he doesn't look suspicious or anything, he just looks a bit sad. He has dark green eyes and short-ish black hair with cute bushy eyebrows! I think he's a detective or something? He comes to the restaurant and orders some really expensive dishes and eats alone. I've only seen him from the back, and he always gives me compliments about my food. He doesn't say it directly of course, but he at least tells the waitresses to tell me," said the buxom woman, clasping her hands together dreamily.

"He sounds like a gentleman," said Rukia, "so I approve… for now. How does he dress?"

"He sometimes wears a black Armani suit with no tie, or a trench coat with a dress shirt and pants. He doesn't necessarily dress up."

"So you've been watching him!" Rukia gave her a knowing smile, "It seems this mister mysterious has an admirer named Inoue Orihime."

Tatsuki laughed, "I think so two. You seem to know a lot about what he does, Hime." She smirked and leaned her head on her hand, her elbow resting on the edge of the table.

The auburn haired woman flushed bright red, "What are you two implying? I do not like him! I barely know him!"

"We never said you liked him. I was plainly talking of platonic admiration, what do you think I was talking about?" Rukia smirked and metaphorically nudged the other woman, obviously hinting at something.

Orihime blushed redder, if it were possible, "W-w-what?! Are you sure _you_ didn't eat fruit loops this morning?" Her two friends both stayed silent and smirked evilly at her as they stared at her knowingly. "Y-you guys are horrible!"

"Love you too," said the two dark haired women in unison.

* * *

><p>Renji burped, stretching out his arms. "As I was saying, that bitch was arguing with me about the types of wheels we should replace the old ones with for this one old model Toyota," he said, eating a piece of fried tofu lethargically slow, chewing with "much" enthusiasm. He exhaled deeply, not just from eating too fast, but also from having eaten too much.<p>

"Isn't that up to the customer?" asked Ichigo, playing with the remainders of his food.

"Usually it is, but the customer told us to choose whatever's best for his car. And what I think is best is what she thinks isn't good enough, which isn't surprising." Renji scowled and got up to throw away all the empty containers. "'_This is better you buffoon,'_ she says," he mimicked.

"Well, maybe what she picked _is _better, whatever that happens to be," shrugged Ichigo, getting two ginger-ales ready from the plastic bag Renji brought. They were always prepared with alka-seltzer or ginger-ale every time they ate Chinese for lunch. Most of the time, they would impulsively over eat and then regretfully suffer from bad indigestion. Ichigo had a little self control, so his indigestion wasn't as bad as Renji's.

"It's not the best! She's not thinking about it thoroughly enough." The red haired man took the ginger-ale from the other man and took a long drink. He pulled it away and inspected it, eying suspiciously, "Hopefully this time after I drink this, nothing _weird _willhappen."

The orange haired doctor rolled his eyes, "'Let's hope your kidney doesn't fail again,'" he said, mocking the other man, making air quotation marks.

"I swear I was turning yellow!" defended Renji, throwing out the rest of the unfinished Chinese food containers.

"Turning yellow has nothing to do with your kidneys! That's called jaundice and it is related to the _liver_," said Ichigo, shaking his head at his ignorant friend.

Apparently, the last time Renji drank ginger-ale, he called Ichigo at two in the morning claiming he was suffering of kidney failure. He had ranted about it the days afterwards for longer than the orange haired man could remember. Ichigo had put it off as a fluke, and didn't even bother to check if anything was wrong due to Renji's tendencies to be stupid. The red haired idiot kept insisting something was wrong and demanded to be checked out even though Ichigo told him it was nothing, but he still kept pestering. So to solve the "problem," Ichigo punched Renji in the gut and said that now he "had a reason to get checked out."

"Well- I- whatever! I'm a not a doctor, so how would I know?" Renji scowled and looked to the side, slightly embarrassed.

"You don't have to be a doctor to know," said Ichigo, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, you do! I bet if you asked a bunch of people what this 'jaundice' thing is, they wouldn't know," said Renji, crossing his arms. He slipped off his shoes and laid back on the couch, his feet falling off the side of the arm rest.

"You shouldn't lay down after you eat," said the orange haired doctor, throwing a pen at the other man's head to get his attention. "And shouldn't you leave? Your lunch break should be over by now."

"Kenpachi won't care. And Ikkaku's taking my cars anyway, and I don't believe I have anything else on my schedule until next week with the car dealers so I'm just going to hang around until I'm forced to leave," Renji picked up the pen thrown at him and flung it on top of the desk.

"Well, now I'm forcing you to leave. You can't just hang around; I have work to do after my lunch break! I only have ten minutes and I'd rather not have to spend it with you," Ichigo organized the papers on his desk and used his legs to move the office chair and himself over to the cabinet to place the folders in.

Suddenly hearing the door open, both men turned to the door left ajar to see three women walking standing there.

Rukia walked over to her desk and started looking around for something. She pushed items out of the way as she looked on the desk and in its drawers, grumbling at the difficulty of finding the item she was seeking for. Eventually, she caught sight of it in the way back of one of the drawers and smiled brightly, "Found it!" She turned around to face her friends, not expecting Tatsuki to be glaring fiercely at Ichigo's friend, or Renji as he called him, on the couch. It seemed like they were in the middle of a glaring contest.

"Tatsuki? I found that lotion you wanted… hello?" She poked her glaring friend, who didn't even budge.

"Abarai," spat Tatsuki with venom.

"Arisawa," said Renji with disgust written all over his voice and scowling face.

"You two know each other?" asked Ichigo, mildly surprised.

They nodded hesitantly, not even shifting their glares a single bit. "She's that bitch I was talking about from work," answered Renji, making "that bitch" narrow her eyes and tighten her fists.

"You asswipe! Why the fuck are you here?"

"Because I can be. Why are you here? They finally found out you're crazy and need time in the asylum?"

"I'm going to k-" Tatsuki's sentence was left unfinished when Orihime interrupted.

"Tatsuki, we're at a hospital, you can't kill someone on these premises. Wait until you're at work or something," said Orihime tugging on her friend's arm to keep her from physically harming anyone.

Rukia nodded her head, "Yeah, if you kill him here, who's going to get blamed for it? Most likely me. So handle it somewhere else." She pulled the long haired woman farther away from the couch and placed the lotion they had come for in her hands. "And here's that lotion."

Renji snickered, mumbling something akin to, "She wouldn't be able to kill me in a million years," to which Tatsuki glared at him, shutting him up.

Orihime cleared her throat, smiling politely and directing her attention to Ichigo and Orihime, "Anyways, I don't believe I introduced myself. I'm Inoue Orihime, nice to meet you two!"

"Yeah, nice to meet ya'," said Ichigo, nodding his head to her in acknowledgement.

Renji quickly glanced at her chest before moving his gaze up to her face and smiling a gentlemen's smile, "Why hello, Inoue. It's a pleasure to meet you." He stood up and brought Orihime's hand to his lips and kissed it, resulting in a his face being kicked with some freshly muddy boots.

"Don't fucking touch her you pig!" yelled Tatsuki, pulling her auburn haired friend away from him.

"Oh, no, it's fine! Really!" said Orihime, waving her hands in the air. "I think we should go now Tatsuki! Come on!" she said quickly, hoping to prevent any injuries. She smiled and bowed to the two men in the office and smiled at Rukia before pulling her violent friend out of the office. "That was close! I thought you were going to go on a rampage!

"Why don't you leave first? I have to go to the bathroom," she said, waving to Tatsuki, who waved back, still angry. After Tatsuki left, she walked in the direction of the bathrooms.

After finishing her business, she sighed, walking out and stretching. As she looked around, she frowned, not remembering the way out, or at least the way to the elevators. The halls for each floor were really confusing considering that this was a _huge _hospital compared to ones in small towns, so she had a hard time finding her way through.

"Um…," she started spinning around in circles, confused. Was it left? Was it right? What was it?

"Can I help you with something?" asked someone, most likely a man, from behind.

She looked over her shoulder and spotted a man with glasses and dark hair. "I was just wondering where the elevators are? I'm a bit lost," she said, smiling politely at the man.

"Ah yes, this floor is pretty confusing," he laughed, liking the woman's personality. "Here I'll escort you if that is okay. By the way, why are you here? Not to be a creeper or anything."

"Oh, I came to visit my friend, Kuchiki Rukia, if you know her?"

"Kuchiki-san, yes, I know her. So you're a friend of hers?" He lifted his glasses as he turned a corner.

"She's one of my best friends!" said Orihime cheerfully, following on after him as he led her through different halls. "I'm Inoue Orihime, nice to meet you!

"And you can just leave me here. I can see the elevators from here, thank you!"

Uryu nodded, "And I'm Ishida Uryu. Let's hope we'll be able to talk more sometime," he said, smiling. He waved to her as she sprinted to the elevator before it closed, waving back at him.

* * *

><p>"Can you give this to Ishida for me? It's important," said Ichigo, holding up a thick folder.<p>

Rukia's eyes flickered at the folder and then back to him, thinking as to whether she should take it or not.

After a couple of minutes, she shrugged and reluctantly took the folder, "I guess?" she said, leaving the office.

She yawned as she walked, her eyes half lidded. She had barely gotten any sleep last night, and she was just about to pass out cold. Her high heels were the only things keeping her awake due to their loudness.

Without looking up and watching where she was walking, she abruptly slammed into somebody's back, causing her to fall over on her bottom and drop the folder. She grumbled something childish, and scratched the back of her head.

"Oh, I'm sorry, here let me help you," said a man, helping her up by grabbing her arms and hoisting her up. Once she was standing, he bent over and collected all the papers on the ground, "I should stop stopping in the middle of the hall shouldn't I?" he said, laughing.

Rukia pat off the dust off her skirt and looked up to find a dark maroon haired man who was rather tall and attractive, watching her. He smiled kindly and handed her the papers he had just picked up, "Sorry again. You're Kuchiki Rukia, right?"

"Yes, I am, and you are?" she asked, not sure what else to say. She organized the papers back into a neat packet and stuck it into the folder.

"Kano Ashido, nice to meet you."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: **_How was it? This chapter introduced all the pairings mainly involved in this story other than IchiRuki! And I hope you know which ones.

Sorry for not a lot of IchiRuki! But believe it or not, these pairings play quite a part in their [Ichigo and Rukia's] story!

**Please tell me what you think! I don't need anymore ideas, or situations, I found my old planning sheets! So thank you to the people who tried.**

**Please review!  
><strong>


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